Norma Heyser
Norma Heyser (born 1933) is a contemporary American artist from Portland, Oregon, who worked in mixed media and new art forms, influenced by Cubism and Abstract expressionism.
Norma Heyser | |
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Born | Norma Edythe Heyser 1933 Portlan, Oregon |
Nationality | American |
Education | University of Oregon Museum Art School Marylhurst University |
Known for | Modernist paintings, collage |
Notable work | "Centennial Painting 1959" |
Early life and education
Norma Edythe Heyser, born in Portland in 1933,[1][2] is the daughter of Norman Lewis Heyser and Agnes Grace Peters.[3][4] She studied at the University of Oregon with Andrew Vincent and David McCosh from 1951–1953, and at the Museum Art School with William Givler from 1953–1956, earning a BA in Art from Marylhurst University in 1980.[1] She married Ronald Orrin Peterson in 1956[2] and they reared two sons.[5]
She and her husband worked at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City during 1957–1958.[6] They returned to Portland in 1958 to open the New Gallery of Contemporary Ar, which closed in 1962.[7][8][9]
In 1963, she co-taught a course at Mt. Angel College along with Ron Peterson, Joyce Britton, and Lee Kelly, entitled, "Explorations in Art," which consisted of "lectures, demonstrations and practice in sculpting, drawing and painting".[10]
Critical reception
Heyser's earliest work was influenced by cubism. In the 1950s she became an abstract expressionist artist, while in the 1960s she self-identified as an Oregon modernist[11] and created "installation and conceptual art and began to experiment with mixed media and other new art forms". [7] Since 1982, Heyser has worked in mixed media and collage, as well as ink drawings.[7]
Reviewing a 1961 exhibit, The Capital Journal wrote,
The paintings of Norma Heyser are predominately large in scale, bold in their powerful images and simple in choice of color. One can sense a vast kinetic energy in the movement of color and form, a fact borne out by the Artist's own statement that she feels the relation of her painting in this idiom to dance and music.[12]
In 1968 The Capital Journal wrote of Heyser, "The young Portland artist is described as one of the most innovative proponents of the 'new art' which goes beyond two-dimensional wall painting and pedestal sculptures for total viewer involvement."[13]
Heyser has been quoted saying she "stopped making [art] work for ecology reasons", and that for her "art and social action are inseparable".[7]
Selected exhibitions
- Blue-yellow, Mt. Angel College, 1960[14]
- An Exhibition of Portland Painting and Sculpture, Bush House, with Lee Kelly and Joyce Britton, 1961[15]
- Norma Heyser, A journey from 1962[16][17]
- "Centennial Painting 1959" 1959, oil on canvas, Mark Ross Gearhart Collection, Hallie Ford Museum of Art.
Awards and honors
- Oregon Centennial Exposition and Trade Fair of 1959, award for painting[19]
- 2013 — Honored at Hallie Ford Museum "for her life's contributions to the art world"[20]
References
- House, Phinney/Bischoff Design (March 2013). "Norma Heyser's Life in the Arts • Marylhurst University • Portland, Oregon". www.marylhurst.edu. Archived from the original on March 16, 2013. Retrieved March 5, 2016.
- "Oregon, State Marriages, 1906-1966". www.ancestry.com. January 4, 1957. Retrieved June 29, 2020.
- "1940 United States Census". www.ancestry.com. April 22, 1940. Retrieved May 4, 2020.
- "Washington, Marriage Records, 1854-2013". www.ancestry.com. Retrieved May 4, 2020.
- "Third Tuesday Author: Norma Heyser | City of Lake Oswego". www.ci.oswego.or.us. Retrieved June 29, 2020.
- A Pacific Profile of Young West Coast Painters. Pasadena Art Museum. 1961.
- "Afternoon Tea Honors Norma Heyser and Her Life in the Arts". Willamette University. June 18, 2013. Archived from the original on February 7, 2015. Retrieved March 6, 2019.
- "Norma Heyser and Ron Peterson, 1960-2000 | University Archives". libmedia.willamette.edu. Retrieved May 5, 2020.
- "Archives West: New Gallery of Contemporary Art Scrapbook, 1958-1962". archiveswest.orbiscascade.org. Retrieved May 5, 2020.
- "Art courses slated for Mt. Angel". The Capital Journal. January 26, 1963. p. 24. Retrieved June 29, 2020.
- Randall, Barb. "Norma Heyser to share 'Little Body Book'". joomlakave.com. Retrieved May 5, 2020.
- "Creative art seen". The Capital Journal. August 7, 1961. p. 11. Retrieved May 4, 2020.
- "Exhibit set at Linnfield". The Capital Journal. January 20, 1968. p. 2. Retrieved May 4, 2020.
- www.bibliopolis.com. "Norma Heyser Sculpture blue-yellow by Norma Heyser on Monograph Bookwerks". Monograph Bookwerks. Retrieved May 5, 2020.
- "At Bush House : New exhibit to open in gallery". Statesman Journal. July 23, 1961. p. 16. Retrieved May 22, 2020.
- "Mt. Agel art show scheduled". The Capital Journal. November 10, 1965. p. 6. Retrieved May 4, 2020.
- "Constructions by Heyser at Mt. Angel Show". Statesman Journal. November 7, 1965. p. 26. Retrieved May 5, 2020.
- Beechwood, Elizabeth (July 10, 2018). "Conversations with Writers and 9 Bridges Presents: Norma Heyser: Find Your Voice Through Memoir". Washington County Writers Forum. Retrieved May 5, 2020.
- "Norma Heyser's life in the arts". Marylhurst University. 2013. Archived from the original on March 16, 2013.
- "Marylhurst Unlimited - Fall 2013". 2013. p. 5. Retrieved June 29, 2020 – via Issuu.